60th Commemoration of the Sharpville Massacre And Reflections on the 26 Years of Democracy in South Africa

The year 2020 marks the 60th anniversary since the Sharpville Massacre that took place on March 21, 1960, killing 69 protestors while leaving 180 injured in what was a peaceful protest against the pass laws. This catastrophe exposed the apartheid government’s intentional violation of human rights. This year, the day has been commemorated under the theme: “The Year of Unity, Socio-economic renewal and nation-building.”

In commemorating Human Rights Day, it is paramount that we simultaneously reflect on South Africa’s 26 years of democracy, bearing in mind the adage that asserts, “There is nothing like democracy without human rights”, as democracy is joint physically to the political human rights of all South Africans. Thus, this year’s theme is highly significant as it acknowledges the living conditions of our people and the need to ensure their unlimited access to the most basic socio-economic services such as water, electricity, education, health, and unemployment, to name a few.

ANC led Government inherited grossly unequal, racial, patriarchal and a society founded on infringement of rights of one man by the other.

It is here that we reflect on the progress made in entrenching and promoting human rights while organically linking this to post-apartheid South Africa. Although present-day South Africa is radically different from the one that saw the Sharpville Massacre, with all the rights enshrined in the constitution; accessing these rights poses a greater barrier. While many paid the ultimate price for us to enjoy our new democratic dispensation, and as we acknowledge the progress that has been made in advancing human rights, the greatest challenge is the inequality that continues to be reflected in class and interlocking with race and gender. President Cyril Ramaphosa asserts that “There is very little contestation of the assertion that South Africa is a vastly different place to what it was in 1994.” Indeed, but perhaps this is the time to be less than modest about our achievements as a nation.

Though there had been significant economic progress prior to the 2007/2008 Global Financial Crisis, there has been some stalling in addressing faults in our economy, which has seen an increase in unemployment and poverty – thus excluding many South Africans due to lack of skills. It was 8 years ago when South Africa was identified as one of the most unequal countries in the world, with 86% of ultra-wealthy individuals being previously advantaged White South Africans, while the majority of those previously disadvantaged remain stagnant. It was last year, in a report released by Statistics South Africa, that stated how White people in South Africa earn three times more than Black people on average. This was released 25 years post-apartheid. This proves highly racialised income earnings in our country. As though that is not enough, the report further identified how women earn 30% less on average than their male counterparts. This is a reflection on SA’s inability to close the gap between racial and gender groups in over two decades. Two factors are linked to these issues, a) inherited capital and b) access to a quality education system.

Though our constitution asserts that, “We are each born with inherent dignity, value, and worth,” and while we have been praised for a peaceful democratic transition, there remain large traits of inequality. The Black majority seldom access any of their rights without any sweat and blood. This is evident on a yearly basis, where students in institutions of higher learning need to constantly fight through a system that has chosen to identify education as a privilege as opposed to it being a constitutional right.

We would not be doing justice in our reflections if we do not mention our current transformative period that has come as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, which has further exposed the atrocities and inequalities that we knew existed and the economic realities faced by ordinary South Africans. In his State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa mentioned the establishment of the Sovereign Wealth Fund & State bank as a means to “Preserve and grow the national endowment of the nation, giving practical meaning to the injunction that the people shall share in the country’s wealth.” The same way in which some government institutions donated to the COVID-19 pandemic should be the way in which these structures are established. They should further be utilised as relief methods for social grants in our country.

2020 will mark 8 years since the adoption of the National Development Plan which was intended to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030. There has been little progress in the implementation of this blueprint. The ANC led government ought to utilise the National Planning Commission’s review of the NDP’s failures since its inception, prioritise particular central challenges such as unemployment and the quality of education and better align our national budget with the implementation of this plan as the time for rhetoric has reached its peak.

While we acknowledge the strides that have been made in ensuring a more inclusive society that is free from racism and sexism, there is still more progress that needs to be done to ensure both democracy and human rights.

As Professor Steven Friedman asserts: “Although we have exceeded our expectations insofar as democratic consolidation is concerned, we have yet to transform the economic patterns that exclude millions from the economy’s benefits and the cultural patterns that preserve the power relationships created by colonisation.”

*Sinoxolo Duma Mthombeni
is a SASCO Activist and writes in her personal capacity.*